On the 27th of November, the UCL Centre for Law and the Environment hosted their Annual Lecture discussing the theme ‘The Rule of (Environmental) Law?: Some Reflections on the Aarhus Convention’. The speaker, Áine Ryall, is a Law Professor at the University College Cork and also Chair of the Compliance Committee to the Aarhus Convention. She was accompanied by Professor Eloise Scotford, the co-director of the UCL Centre for Law and the Environment, who assisted with the running of the event. The lecture focused on the important role that the Aarhus Convention plays in supporting Environmental Law enforcement and Áine’s personal experience and route to her role as chair of the compliance committee. Some of the relevant and recent issues faced regarding the Convention’s implementation were also discussed.

The Convention

The Aarhus Convention, adopted in 1998, is an international treaty which aims to protect every individual’s right to live in an environment adequate to their health and well-being. To do so, it focuses on government accountability, transparency and responsiveness to environmental protection. The rights the Convention protects are designed to enable members of the public and environmental NGOs to act to protect the environment in the public interest. Currently, there are 47 parties to the Convention – 46 states and the European Union, which are bound to their obligations under the Convention.
During the lecture, Professor Áine analysed the evolution of the Convention, remembering that one the prompts for its implementation was the great procedural barriers to access to Environmental Law, and the consequent high cost of litigation. Besides this, there was resistance on national levels to the impact of the EU Environmental Law.

Since then, however, the rights and provisions under the Convention have been interpreted by National Courts, the European Court of Human Rights and the Compliance Committee, helping to improve and develop further access to justice and enforcing Environmental Law. The influence of the Aarhus Convention, according to Áine, can be seen in the recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights on KlimaSeniorinnen v Switzerland [2024], where an association of senior women brought an action against the Swiss government for failing to reduce emission levels. You can see a useful video discussion on this ruling from LSE. Additionally, Áine also mentioned the UK Supreme Court decision on Finch [2024], regarding it as a landmark decision that showed the importance of public participation. You can see a recent blog on this matter from Essex Court Chambers: The downsstream effects of Finch (21 Jan 2025).

However, Áine also reminded the audience that the impact and influence of the Convention are a moving target as new cases and developments appear on a daily basis, which, according to her, reiterates the importance of open access. Additionally, she suggested that blogs and podcasts can be efficient tools for students who want to keep up with the matter.

Áine’s Experience and the Compliance Committee Role      

Professor Áine shared with the audience that her first contact with Environmental Law came when she was an LLM student in the early 90s, and back then, she was fascinated with the implementation gap and the enforcement challenges that EU Environmental Law faced pre-Aarhus Convention. Post Aarhus, she has served in the Compliance Committee since 2015, having the role of Chair since 2021.
The Committee is the Convention’s compliance mechanism, which was established by the parties to the Convention, and its focus is on reviewing compliance and supporting the parties to meet their obligations. In practice, the Committee holds formal hearings to make findings, and it can recommend legislative changes and training to support the parties to move to a position of compliance. The committee also relies on members of the public and NGOs to keep them informed on a local level.
Áine also shared that the Committee members work on a pro bono work basis, and the reality is that there aren’t many resources available which makes the processing time for cases significantly long. According to her, this can be a frustrating situation as currently, more and more parties are coming to the Committee for advice, and responding as quickly and effectively as possible to such requests is of some importance to make sure that the advice given isn’t obsolete. Currently, there are 70 open cases.

My take on the event

In my education so far, I haven’t had the chance to cover in depth the Aarhus Convention and the themes under Environmental Law. However, as a first-year LLB student who is still exploring my areas of interest, I found the event to be insightful and it was a privilege to learn more about the Convention from Professor Áine Ryall, who is so hands-on in the matter. At the end of the event I managed to ask Áine if she had any advice for any first-year students who are also interested in the matter and want to get involved in Environmental Law, and her answer was:

“Keep up to date with the latest developments and cases, attend as many lectures and events on environmental law as possible and try to get in touch with NGOs and local planning authorities to start getting your name out there.”

For some extra reading, check out the blog on the status of decisions of the compliance committee on Landmark Chambers website.

Big thanks to Francine Juarez Bulio for this review. She is a member of the Lawbore team and is a first year LLB student, originally from Brazil. Here’s what she says about herself:

“I have always been interested in Law and actually started a Law degree back home, but I wasn’t able to complete it before moving to England at the age of 19. For the last couple of years, I have been preparing myself to start my LLB, and I hope to work with human rights law one day. Beyond my studies, I really enjoy reading and trying out new coffee shops around London.”